#post-dominion war

[lordmccoveycove]

https://www.adastrafanfic.com/works/905/chapters/1854

“Agamemnon” by Lord McCovey Cove Chapters: 6/6 Words: 15,671 Fandom: Expanded Universes (General) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Richard James, t'Aimne, Hank Grayum Additional Tags: Action/Adventure, Drama, Adult Language, Angst Series: Part 1 of Star Trek: The Quarterdeck Breed Summary:

Part One of Star Trek: The Quarterdeck Breed

Stardate 53441: When LCDR Richard James arrives on the Border Patrol ship Agamemnon, he clashes with his new captain's command style... and fruit that it bears.

Cover Credits: Artwork by Alexander Richardson (used with written permission).

[walkingstackofbooks]

Finally posted to AO3! And re-reading it I am far happier than I thought I was with how it turned out 😅

"Are you happier? Now that the war is over?"

It had been meant as a serious question, but from the look on Kira's face, she hadn't caught onto that. "What sort of question is that, 'am I happier'?" she asked, laughing a little as she spoke. "Of course I am! Who isn't?"

Shrugging, Julian forced himself to smile back at her. "No, of course," he agreed. "Silly question."

His smile clearly hadn't been convincing: Kira's own smile had faded as she looked at him more closely, her eyebrows creasing into a frown.

"Have I done something to make you think I'm not?" she asked sharply. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"No-- no, nothing like that," Julian said hurriedly. "I mean, obviously Odo's gone now, and Keiko and the Chief, and Worf, and... and the Captain... But that-- That's different, isn't it, I guess. You can be sad and happy at the same time, right?"

He cringed, knowing that he hadn't quite managed to make sense there: years of practice had made him very good at recognising Kira's 'baffled' expression.

"All these years," said Kira, slowly shaking here head, "and I still don't understand you, sometimes. Of course I miss Odo, and the others -- and while we're at it, of course I'm still angry and-- and upset about the things that happened during the war..." She made a face, banging her fist lightly against the table. "Damn you, you know I'm no good with feelings, that's... there's a lot more there, besides," she added. "And I'm sure as hell not going into that right now...

"But if you're asking whether I'd rather be here, now, living without the threat of the Dominion or the Cardassians, knowing my friends are alive and safe -- and if they're not, at least being able to mourn them in peace, not having to make decisions that could get us all killed if it goes even slightly wrong... or if I'd rather be back there, in the war -- well. It's no contest, is it?"

"In theory, no, of course--"

"In theory?" Kira asked incredulously. "Julian, are you saying you were happier in the war?"

"No!" he exclaimed: that hadn't been what he'd meant at all. "The war was-- it was... Well, you couldn't be happy during the war, could you? Everything was too awful, it was impossible."

"A lot of the time, yeah," Kira said softly. "And that's gonna stick with us for a long time -- but they're only memories, now. We made it."

"We did," Julian said quietly, his eyes fixed on the table. "I just... I thought I'd be happier, I guess. Now that it's all over."

Kira reached forward, brushing her hand over his. "That's what this is all about?" she asked. "You aren't happy?"

"I never said I'm not," Julian objected hotly, looking back up at her -- but a sigh slipped out of him as he realised he didn't actually have an argument, and he shook his head, slumping back into his chair. Kira watched him, not saying anything.

"No, you're right," he admitted, pulling his arms across himself, almost too tight. "I know I'm supposed to be-- I know, after everything, it's so stupid... But, Nerys, I don't-- I don't think I am?"

Stopping to swallow the lump that had risen in his throat, he noticed he eyes had grown wet, which for some reason made him chuckle. "Isn't that silly?" he asked, leaning forward again. "We won the war, but I'm still not happy."

"No, Julian," Kira replied slowly. "I don't think that's silly at all. It's just... It's just very, very sad." She took a breath, reaching out to hold both his hands this time. "I'm sorry," she continued. "I didn't know."

"It's not your fault," he said, squeezing her hands tightly. "For a while, I just thought everyone else was pretending, too, so I just went along with it... And then I started to realise that no, you were all actually at least a little bit okay, and so I had to keep pretending, because happiness is so fragile and I didn't, you know, want to make anyone else feel bad just because I..."

He trailed off, shrugging a little. "I don't know, Nerys. I guess I just wanted to check that it wasn't just me, but it is just me, and now I've told you, and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad--"

"Julian, no," Kira interrupted. "Thank you for sharing this with me -- I'm glad you told me, okay?"

Ears growing hot, Julian ducked his head, not quite sure to do with the wave of emotion spilling over him. Now that he'd told her some of it, he kind of wanted to let everything out. Distractedly, he started tracing patterns on her hands, pushing into them with increasing intensity.

"It's just-- I'm just..." He stumbled over his words, struggling to give voice to the one thought that he'd been trying to ignore for months. "What if this is it for me? What if I'm like this forever? It's been years, Nerys--"

To his horror, his voice cracked, and he covered his mouth, trying to hold back the sobs that were threatening to burst out. Hoping that no-one else had noticed, he looked around the replimat; thankfully the other diners seemed more interested in their own conversations than in him and Kira.

"Would you like to go somewhere less public?" Kira asked. Not quite trusting himself to speak, he nodded, and together they left the replimat.

As they walked down the promenade and up to the habitat ring, Kira steered clear of their previous conversation, chatting about the station, her week, her latest grievance with Quark, and Julian was grateful for the respite. But as soon as they were sat down in her quarters, she turned to him with a most serious expression.

"It isn't right, you feeling like that, you know," she said. "I don't have the answers, I don't know how it gets better -- but we both know someone who would. You haven't tried telling Ezri any of this, have you?"

Julian's stomach tightened: Ezri was the last person he wanted to have this particular conversation with. "Oh, yes, because that would go so well," he retorted sarcastically. "Hi Ezri, I love you, but you don't make me happy. Don't worry, it's not you, I'm just unhappy most of the time. Most of the time? Yeah, it gets better when I'm around you, because then I just kind of feel... nothing. What an improvement!"

"Julian..." whispered Kira, but it was all coming out now and Julian couldn't make it stop. He rose from the sofa, starting to pace as he spoke.

"Did you ever make me happy? Maybe, sweetheart, but I'm not even certain of that. I might have been so desperate for anything even resembling happiness that I just deluded myself into thinking I was in love... Do I even love you? Who the fuck knows, Ezri. Is love even real, or did it die in the war along with every-fucking-thing else?"

His voice had risen louder than he'd intended, condemning him with every word it pushed forcefully into the air. He'd made Kira cry, he thought, but he couldn't quite be sure, his vision being clouded by his own mess of tears.

"How could I possibly tell her that?" he asked, sitting back down heavily, his voice dropping to a hollow whisper. "Kira, how the hell do I tell her that?"

"Come here," she said in way of a response, pulling him against her and holding him tightly, so that he could feel her lips move against his hair as she answered him. "I don't know," she was saying, "but you have to, Julian. I can be there with you if you want but, Prophets, Julian, you have to. How could you not?"

How could he not?

Julian closed his eyes and let himself fall apart against his friend, not even bothering to try to answer her. It was terrifying, after all this time, to finally allow someone to see how broken he really was, but he was far, far too tired to keep it in any longer.

[nugulover69]

This is how I sound posting about my blorbos

[simptasia]

julian working at the clinic he sets up on cardassia, giving vaccines to all the grumpy and confused cardassian babies. he gets bitten a few times

[thefrostychemist]

Saw that Jem'Hadar are a playable faction in STO, and like... Whose Star Trek fantasy is being the highly expendable warrior slave race genetically engineered to be lethally addicted to a drug held only by commanding officers to prevent disobedience???

[pon-farr-night]

ME WHEN I WANT TO POST ABOUT MY STAR TREK OCS BUT I'M SCARED, SPOOKED EVEN, THAT IT WILL BE CRINGE AND THE MASSES WILL HATE THEM!!!

[cosmicluci]

Weird rant-y post, because I was just thinking about it.

But you know International Crimes? They’ve been a sadly very recent topic, showing up on the news a lot. They appear in fiction all the time. People talk about them.

They are Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, and Crimes of Aggression. They’re also the crimes tried by the International Criminal Court, and defined in the Rome Statute. We’ve all heard about them.

The thing that annoys and concerns me is that a whole lot of people tend to mix them up, and I think it’s important to know the differences.

First, Crimes of Aggression are basically starting a war. One country attacking another country. That’s different from War Crimes, but I’ll talk about those later.

Big confusion people make is between Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity:

Genocide is acts taken purposefully to destroy in whole or in part a group. The international definition lists National, Ethnic, Racial, and Religious groups, but based on a consideration made during one of the trials in the ICTR all the way back in 1998, about the spirit of that law, it’s reasonable to consider it as encompassing any group that is similarly “Stable and Permanent”. This means it does necessarily include, say, regional groups, disabled people, and any part or all of the LGBTQ+ community. But it is purposefully about destroying a group, and it is always directed and specific.

Crimes Against Humanity, on the other hand, is about widespread and/or systematic attacks directed at a civilian population. This doesn’t always require specific intent, and it can be a lot more generalized. It also includes political persecution, and group persecution that isn’t necessarily about destruction. Apartheid is a Crime Against Humanity.

An important detail is that in no way is a Crime Against Humanity less severe, less heinous, less serious, than a Genocide. They’re both heinous. They’re often at equal levels of horror. Heck, a Crime Against Humanity can often have its own special types of cruelty. This is where you most commonly (though not exclusively) get state-sanctioned torture, or oppression lasting for decades or even hundreds of years. So let’s also not treat this as a lesser crime. It’s super duper not.

The next big difference is that Genocide and CAH are not War Crimes. I’ve seen a lot of people calling them that, or saying that people convicted for Genocide and CAH were convicted for war crimes. This one is troubling because it also creates the mistaken impression that those things happen in war, or that they’re always tied to war. That’s a HUGE mistake. As much as they’re often covered up with war, or people use war as an opportunity or justification to commit those crimes, they can just as much happen when there’s no war. And even when there is a war, those crimes don’t favor or are necessary for a war effort (of course, the perpetrators do like framing it as such, but we really shouldn’t put a lot of trust into what perpetrators say to justify their atrocities).

War Crimes are acts committed in violation of the rules about means and methods, and about protected persons, places, and objects, in a context of armed conflict. That’s a specific set of rules. This is also different from starting the war. A country can technically start an aggressive war (Crime of Aggression) and not commit war crimes, just as a country can take part in a war legally (for example, in self defense), but take actions that constitute War Crimes.

Another quick detail is that an act can be more than one thing. And similar acts taken in different contexts can be different crimes.

I doubt anyone will read this post, or read it this far. But if someone does, keep all of this in mind when looking at real world news. Israel, for example, hasn’t committed a Crime of Aggression against Palestine, but is committing Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, and Genocide. Some of those for way longer than the current conflict. Russia, on the other hand, committed a Crime of Aggression, and I’d argue all the others as well (long story about Genocide. We don’t usually hear about that, or about the hate rhetoric coming from Russia about Ukraine. Won’t go into it now. But there’s some troubling evidence that there very much is also a Genocide there).

Also think about it when we see it in fiction! Thanos in the MCU didn’t commit a genocide. His attack was generalized, unspecific, and undirected. He killed indiscriminately. It’s a Crime Against Humanity (or, I guess, in that case, not humanity? Maybe a Crime Against Sentiency. Not a Genocide, though).

In Star Wars, the Empire commits multiple genocides (in that case, a planetary group can be considered), as well as Crimes Against Sentiency in its oppression of populations. The Jedi Purge was a genocide as well. Meanwhile, we see Republic forces committing War Crimes (such as when they use the tactic of false surrender to lull CIS forces into a massacre, or the use of an enslaved army, or the recruitment of children), and even Genocide against the Geonosians. We do also have CIS forces committing international (or…interplanetary?) crimes, mind you. Especially Crimes Against Sentiency, attacking and oppressing civilian populations, or War Crimes as they use torture.

In Star Trek DS9, when the Cardassians enact a systematic and widespread oppression of the Bajorans, that’s a Crime Against Sentiency. But when they decide they should exterminate them, that’s Genocide. The Dominion trying to exterminate Cardassians is also Genocide. And when the Romulans hid weapons in their hospital base, that’s a War Crime.

[lordmccoveycove]

Note: I originally wrote this in 2002, decades before Prodigy. :)  I’m not claiming credit or anything.

“Bellerophon” by Lord McCovey Cove

Read: https://www.adastrafanfic.com/works/929 Chapters: 1/1 Word Count: 9,071 Fandom: Expanded Universes (General) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Randy Duke Additional Tags: Starfleet Academy, Kobayashi Maru, Post Dominion War Series: Part 2 of Star Trek: The Quarterdeck Breed Summary:

Part Two of The Quarterdeck Breed:

Stardate Unknown: Sometimes, life at Starfleet Academy isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially for command cadet Randy Duke.

Cover Credits: Artwork by Alexander Richardson (used with written permission).

[jsbashirmd]

@morethanmybody sent:

"I owe you an apology for what I'm about to do."

"In that case," he responded, "maybe you shouldn't do it, Captain."

[getvalentined]

Thinking a lot recently about the constant comparison of Oblivion to Skyrim, particularly claims that Oblivion is superior in every way strictly by virtue of quest length and the greater grandiosity of the organizations in Oblivion, and I think there's been a fundamental misunderstanding of what's actually going on with Tamriel during the time period of Skyrim. Even though it's like...one of the core concepts of the main storyline.

Putting most of this under a cut for length, but I just...I think people misunderstand what's going on here. This is not a "One Game Good Other Game Bad" post, it's an analysis of a major, key difference in story basis between the two that I think gets lost in the (frankly asinine) argument about which is superior.

See, everything in Skyrim sucks. Every organization you can align yourself with is falling apart. Literally every single one.

That's the point.

To summarize:

The Companions (equivalent to the Fighters' Guild) are about a dozen strong, literally cursed, and their most beloved leader gets murdered very early in the storyline.

The College of Winterhold (equivalent to the Mages' Guild, not to the Arcane University) has seemingly only been saved from collapsing into the sea because a master of Restoration fused himself with the structure itself when the Sea of Ghosts tried to tear it down a little under a century ago and his presence is constantly physically "healing" the foundation.

The Thieves' Guild has lost the favor of every possible patron deity, having been outright cursed by Nocturnal after one of her Nightingales murdered another and stole the gift she offers her champion, while the boon that the organization's founder claimed from her in ages past (the cowl) is missing.

The Dark Brotherhood has been all but completely dismantled, the Night Mother's tomb in Bravil having been raided and struggling to persist without a Listener for over a decade; the bodies of the Night Mother's children have been lost and she's essentially being smuggled from region to region in an attempt to find a safe place to continue operations.

The Empire itself has been kneecapped, forced into a traumatic treaty by a fascist regime determined to strike the beliefs and culture of anyone not Altmer off the face of the planet; the Thalmor have gone so far as to torture and radicalize the figurehead leader of the Nords in order to use their own nationalism and superiority against the Empire, sparking a civil war that will further weaken the Empire and allow the Aldmerri Dominion to destroy it wholecloth.

This extends out into the rest of the world, too! We have confirmed existence of Hist-deaf Argonians. The Dunmer are floundering to recover after the quadruple-whammy that is the fall of the Triumverate, the destruction of Vivec City when Baar Dau finally made impact, the Red Year, and the Argonian uprising. The Bosmer are literally endangered due to habitat loss following a super-isolationist cultural shift due to wars with the Khajiit and Altmer. The Void Nights were devastating to Khajiit culture and population in ways that have yet to be fully explained.

The world is falling apart. Everything is dying.

And then Alduin shows up.

We all kind of talk about Alduin carrying on as World-Eater through the course of the Skyrim storyline like it's him being a piece of shit, since he'd started it ages ago and was just displaced in time to land on the Last Dragonborn's head in the Fourth Era, but I don't think that's the case.

Based on the state of things, I think Alduin arrived right on time. I think it's the end of the world. The only reason he "should" be stopped is because the Last Dragonborn has the capacity to stop the world from ending in a more down-to-earth sense than just defeating Alduin: they can't save everyone, but they can "fix" every single organization that's holding "the world" together.

They can align with the Imperials and keep the civil war from further crippling them, keeping the Empire from being too weak to push back against the Aldmerri Dominion.

They can save the College of Winterhold, the only group in the right place at the right time to stop the Eye of Magnus from opening, and in doing so make sure that the Psijics are able to put it somewhere nobody else can find it.

They can lead the Companions, cure the curse for those members who don't want to run with Hircine after death, which bolsters their spirits enough to keep doing what they can even when everyone else is trying to kill each other. A single neutral martial force in the middle of a civil war.

They can regain Nocturnal's trust for the Thieves' Guild, restore the Nightingales, and in doing so they can return the luck that was stolen from them as punishment for Mercer Frey's transgression. They can even reclaim the Crown of Barenziah and award the guild with a paragon to increase their newly-regained luck.

They can hear the Night Mother, becoming Listener for the Dark Brotherhood to restore the balancing force of Sithis in the world, purify the most broken Sanctuary the Brotherhood has ever had, and finish a story set into motion way back in the Third Era—Emperor Titus Mede II is murdered under the order of a Motierre, a descendant of a mark the Brotherhood specifically kept from dying during the Oblivion Crisis.

The Last Dragonborn can't do anything outside Skyrim—there's nothing they can do for the Argonians or the Bosmer or the Khajiit, and they can only do very little for the Dunmer via work in Solstheim—but they can work with every single guild or guild-adjacent group, strengthening the Empire to stand against the biggest threat to Tamrielic culture since the First Era, and in doing so they can make it so the world isn't ready for Alduin to eat it.

The Hero of Kvatch exists when Tamriel, and presumably Nirn as a whole is in the prime of its life, that's what makes the Oblivion Crisis such a big deal. This is a world that isn't ready to give up, it still has the strength to fight, it just needs someone standing at the head to direct it. The Last Dragonborn comes into the story when everything is falling apart and nothing really feels worthwhile, when it's hard to see why the world is worth saving. They have the chance to prove that there's still some life left here, that the world isn't too far gone to save—Alduin arrived right on time, it's the Last Dragonborn's job to change that.

I can see how coming from Oblivion to Skyrim would feel disappointing and hollow, but I'm pretty sure that's literally the point of the story.

Oblivion tells you the world is worth saving because it's got so much left to live for, even with the odds stacked so high against it. Skyrim asks you whether a world that's dying is still a world worth saving, and it's up to you to prove that it is.

[inseobts]

Kidd, luffy and law x reader (love triangle) please 😽😻

Run wild and free

luffy x reader + law x reader + kid x reader

a/n: bestie that’s not a love triangle, that’s a love quadrangle lmao. jokes apart, I ended up making it a bit too platonic and about you joining their crew, but I hope you’ll like it anyway.

reader’s powers: inspired by solo leveling

tags: gn!reader, post-wano, strong!reader, slow burn, tension

words count: 3.5k

masterlist || ao3 || ko-fi

The war for Wano is over.

Kaido has fallen. Orochi is dead. The Beasts Pirates have been crushed.

And yet, despite the celebrations, the laughter, and the cries of victory in the Flower Capital, you stand apart alone, as you’re used to.

The battlefield still writhes with shadows. Black, eerie figures kneel at your feet, remnants of those you’ve slain, now bound to your will.

Your power grants you dominion over the dead. Every opponent you cut down becomes yours, their shadows shackled to you in eternal servitude.

Some call you a monster. Others call you a deity of war. Either way, they fear you.

And that’s why the three most dangerous men alive are now fighting over you.

“Oi! There you are!”

Luffy’s voice rings across the ruined battlefield, his footsteps loud as he runs up to you. His grin is as bright as ever, completely unaffected by the haunting army of shadows still lurking behind you.

“That was so cool!” he says, eyes practically sparkling “You should totally join my crew!”

You blink “What?”

“You’re strong! And awesome! And you’d love the Sunny!” Luffy laughs “I bet you and Zoro would get along!”

You tilt your head. He’s serious.

Before you can answer...

“Tch. Move it, Straw Hat.”

Boots stomp onto the cracked ground. Kid.

His crimson eyes burn with something like admiration but it’s buried beneath his usual arrogance.

“You’re not actually considering that dumbass, are you?” He folds his arms, metal arm gleaming under the moonlight “You belong with a real crew… mine.”

You smirk “You mean a ship full of lunatics?”

Kid’s grin widens “Exactly, you’re obviously one of us.”

Before you can respond—

“You two never shut up.”

The voice is calm, sharp. Surgical.

Law steps forward, hands in his coat pockets, golden eyes locked onto you. Unlike the others, he doesn’t demand or taunt.

He simply says “You’re not looking for chaos. You’re not looking for a crew of idiots fighting over scraps. You’re looking for something bigger.” His gaze sharpens “Join me, and I’ll give you exactly that.”

The air tightens. The unspoken challenge crackles like thunder.

Luffy’s grin never fades “I’m not losing to either of you.”

Kid scoffs “Like hell you aren’t.”

Law just smirks “We’ll see.”

You exhale. They’re serious.

Three captains. Three paths.

You sigh, crossing your arms as you watch Luffy, Kid, and Law glare at each other, their presence crackling like lightning in the air.

“You guys do realize,” you deadpan, “that I never said I was joining any of you? You all know I’m a lonely pirate and somehow I already have my crew…”

Luffy ignores you “They’re all shadows… Join my crew, Y/N!” he says, grinning ear to ear “We’re all super strong! And we have a cook who makes the best food ever!”

Kid scoffs “You think food is what’s gonna convince them, Straw Hat?” He turns to you, crimson eyes gleaming “You’re wasted with these idiots. With me, you’d have the strongest crew on the seas. No one could touch us. And admit it, your powers fit us.”

Law sighs, rubbing his temple like he’s already exhausted by both of them “You two are insufferable.” He looks at you, his golden eyes sharp and calculating “You don’t need chaos. You don’t need a circus act. You need something real. Join me, and I’ll give you exactly that.”

You blink at them. They’re serious.

You already knew that Luffy was stubborn as hell, Kid was relentless, and Law was dangerous in the quietest ways, but you didn’t think they’d actually fight over you.

Your silence seems to fuel the fire.

“What can you even offer them, Trafalgar?” Kid sneers, cracking his knuckles “A crew full of weaklings?”

“I have a submarine” Law says coolly.

Luffy pauses “…That’s actually kind of cool. But the Sunny is way cooler! And we have the best musician ever! Do you guys even have music on your ships?”

You exhale through your nose “You guys do realize you’re treating me like a damn prize, right?”

Luffy blinks “Huh?”

Law sighs “That’s not what this is.”

Kid smirks “I mean, it kinda is.”

The ground shakes as your shadows shift, the weight of your power pressing down on the air “You’re acting like I’m just gonna follow one of you like a lost puppy.”

Kid grins “Wouldn’t say no to that.”

Before you can reply, a new voice cuts in.

“Oi! What the hell is going on here? We thought you were killing each other.”

You glance over to see Zoro, Killer, and Bepo approaching, the rest of their respective crews trailing behind them. Nami, Sanji, and Usopp are already watching from a distance, curiosity burning in their eyes. Heat and Wire stand near Killer, arms crossed. Shachi and Penguin exchange glances, whispering to each other.

It’s clear that the entire alliance has noticed the brewing tension.

“What is this, some kind of territory dispute?” Zoro grumbles, adjusting his swords.

“Oh, it’s worse,” Sanji says, lighting a cigarette “They’re fighting over y/n.”

Zoro pauses “Wait, seriously?”

“Seems like” Nami confirms.

Bepo looks at Law, confused “Captain, what’s happening?”

“Nothing” Law says flatly.

Killer sighs “Eustass-ya, this is ridiculous.”

Kid waves him off “Shut up, Killer. I’m working.”

“Working?” You narrow your eyes.

Kid shrugs, smirking “I like collecting powerful things.”

Luffy snorts “Well, I like collecting friends!”

Law rubs his temples again, clearly regretting everything.

Sanji exhales a plume of smoke “Well, well. What an interesting little mess.” as he eyes you with a smirk.

Your shadows ripple violently.

“Absolutely not.”

The temperature seems to drop as your aura expands. Even the wind seems to hold its breath.

The crews tense. They’ve seen you fight. They’ve seen the horrors your power can unleash.

Kid whistles, impressed “Damn. I like that.”

Luffy grins, unfazed “Your powers are so cool!”

Law watches you closely. Too closely. His golden eyes see more than you want him to.

You exhale “I don’t take orders from anyone. Not you. Not the World Government. Not anyone.”

Kid smirks “Then what do you want?”

You hesitate.

Because the truth is that you don’t know.

Luffy steps closer, eyes bright with something honest “You wanna see the world with us?”

Kid leans in, voice dropping into something dangerous “Or do you wanna rule it?”

Law, ever the strategist, doesn’t ask. He just looks at you and says “You’re searching for something. I can help you find it.”

The weight of their offers settles over you like a storm.

And for the first time in a long time you feel something real.

Luffy’s grin softens “You’d be awesome on the Sunny!”

Kid scoffs “Or you could actually be on a ship worthy of your strength.”

Law sighs, tilting his head slightly “You’re both exhausting.” But his eyes flick back to you, and for a second you see something intense.

They’re not letting this go.

“Yeesh, are they flirting or fighting?” Nami mutters.

Usopp stares “I… honestly can’t tell.”

Killer just sighs “Both.”

Heat nudges Wire “Should we start taking bets?”

Sanji exhales, watching you closely “Lucky bastards.”

You ignore them all, looking at the three captains in front of you. You’re not stupid, you know this isn’t just about power anymore.

It’s about you.

Kid steps closer, voice dropping just for you “You’re different.” His crimson eyes glint with something hungry “You’re not scared of me. You’re not scared of anything, are you?”

You smirk “Should I be?”

His grin stretches wider “I’d like to see you try.”

Luffy, still smiling, grabs your wrist. His fingers are warm, rough from battle and adventure, but there’s nothing forceful in the way he holds you. It’s just excited, unfiltered emotion.

“You’d have so much fun with us, y/n!” He leans in, voice almost giddy “I wanna show you the whole world!”

Your heart skips. Just a little.

Then a hand grabs Luffy’s wrist, yanking it off of you.

Law.

His touch is cool, precise, almost possessive. He doesn’t say anything, just stares at Luffy, then at you. There’s something undeniably sharp in his gaze now.

Something dangerous.

“Don’t touch them so casually” he says. His voice is low.

Luffy just tilts his head “Huh? Why not?”

Law doesn’t answer.

Kid watches, then laughs “Holy shit. You’re jealous.”

Law ignores him, eyes still locked on you “This isn’t a game.” His voice is quieter now “Not for me.”

And for once, you don’t know what to say.

The air feels heavier now, not from battle, but from something far more dangerous.

This isn’t just about alliances anymore.

This is a chase.

The weight of their gazes presses in. Too much.

You exhale slowly, rolling your shoulders back. The shadows one by one sink into the ground, vanishing like ink in water, back to where they belong.

The battlefield is quiet.

Kid watches with sharp interest “Tch. Even your Devil Fruit is showy.”

Luffy tilts his head, blinking “Huh? Where’d they go?”

Law doesn’t speak, just watches you with that calculating gaze, as if he’s trying to figure out what you’re thinking.

But you don’t give them the chance.

You turn on your heel and walk away.

Not a word.

Not an explanation.

Just silence.

The festival in the Flower Capital is alive with laughter, music, and sake. People are celebrating, embracing their long-awaited freedom.

The people of Wano don’t know you like they know the others. You’re not a Straw Hat, not a Heart Pirate, not part of Kid’s crew. You’re just a shadow passing through their victory.

It should be freeing.

It isn’t.

You settle against a wooden post near a quieter part of the town, eyes drifting up to the lanterns lighting up the sky. The night is warm, the air thick with the scent of grilled food and spilled alcohol. Somewhere in the distance, you can hear Brook playing music, the faint sound of Luffy laughing, the chaotic voices of pirates and samurai alike.

And yet, you’re alone.

Just how you like it.

…Right?

“You’re hard to find.”

The voice is low, familiar.

You don’t have to turn around to know who it is. Trafalgar Law.

He steps beside you, hands tucked in his coat pockets, golden eyes flicking toward yours. His expression is unreadable, but there’s something different in the way he’s looking at you. Something unspoken.

You don’t acknowledge him right away. Just sip from the drink you swiped earlier.

“You followed me?”

Law doesn’t deny it “You left without saying anything.”

“You guys were annoying me.”

He exhales through his nose, amused “I figured.”

Silence stretches between you, comfortable but heavy. The festival noise hums in the background, but this moment feels separate from all of it.

After a beat, Law speaks again.

“You’re not staying, are you?”

“Would that disappoint you?”

Law’s gaze sharpens, but not with irritation, but something deeper.

“I don’t like wasting my time,” he murmurs “And I don’t chase things I can’t keep.”

Your heartbeat stumbles.

A challenge. A warning. A confession. Maybe all three.

For the first time in a long time, you don’t know what to say, and Law notices.

Your grip tightens around your cup, but you force yourself to keep your expression neutral “That so?”

Law doesn’t answer right away. He just watches you, too closely, as if he’s already mapping out every possible move you could make. Then he tilts his head slightly.

“You don’t run from battles.” His voice is smooth, steady “But you walked away from us.”

You scoff “Don’t tell me you took that personally.”

He exhales through his nose “I don’t take things personally. I just like to understand what I’m dealing with.” His golden eyes flick to yours, sharp, unreadable “And you? You’re an enigma.”

A small smirk tugs at your lips “Flattery, Trafalgar?”

“Observation.”

The weight of his gaze lingers. Heavy. And something about it, about him, unsettles you in a way you don’t want to acknowledge. Because he’s right.

You don’t walk away from fights. You don’t back down from challenges. But something about them, about this whole mess, made you leave.

Before you can respond, a loud, familiar voice cuts through the air.

“There you are!”

Footsteps. Heavy boots against wood.

Kid.

He stomps over, crimson eyes flicking between you and Law, his lip curling “The hell is this?”

You raise a brow “A conversation?”

Kid huffs, rolling his shoulders like he’s shaking off some irritation “Didn’t think you were the type to have quiet conversations.”

Law clicks his tongue “And I didn’t think you were the type to go looking for someone who left without a word.”

Kid’s eyes darken “Tch. You think I give a damn if they left? I just don’t like loose ends.”

But the way his gaze lingers on you says otherwise.

You sigh, rubbing your temple. This is exactly what you wanted to avoid “Why are you two even here?”

Kid folds his arms “Maybe I don’t like being ignored.”

Law hums “Needy.”

“Shut the hell up, Trafalgar.”

You sigh “You’re both ridiculous.”

Kid leans against the post next to you, his smirk sharp “Maybe. But you didn’t answer the question.”

You glance at him “What question?”

He tilts his head, watching you like a predator watching its prey “Are you staying?”

The air between you tightens.

You could lie and tell them exactly what they want to hear, but you don’t answer at all. And this silence is what gets them.

Kid’s smirk twitches, like he doesn’t like not knowing. Law’s fingers flex at his sides, like he wants to dissect every inch of your thoughts.

And just when you think you might finally get some peace a familiar laugh echoes.

Luffy.

He lands in front of you, grinning like he hasn’t just dropped into the middle of something tense.

“Oi, y/n!” His grin stretches wide, his eyes shining “I’ve been looking for you!”

Of course he has. Of course they all have.

Luffy's wide eyes flick between you, Law, and Kid and he doesn’t miss a thing.

“Eh? You guys are here too?”

Kid rolls his eyes “No shit.”

Law sighs, rubbing his temple “Straw Hat-ya, this really isn’t—”

But Luffy’s already stepping into your space. Closer than the others. Closer than anyone should be.

His warm fingers brush against your wrist, tugging lightly but not pulling, not forcing.

“You left before the party started,” he says, pouting “I wanted to drink with you.”

His voice isn’t demanding. It’s something worse... soft.

Unfiltered. Real.

Your pulse skips just for a second. And from the way Law tenses and Kid narrows his eyes, you know they notice.

You don’t pull away, but you don’t answer either.

Luffy tilts his head “Are you mad?”

You blink “Why would I be mad?”

He shrugs “Dunno. Maybe ‘cause we wouldn’t stop arguing in front of you.”

Kid scoffs “You mean because you wouldn’t shut up?”

Luffy grins “Well, yeah.”

Law exhales, voice flat “Straw Hat-ya, you’re not helping.”

But Luffy doesn’t care. He never does. He just looks at you, his fingers still wrapped around your wrist.

“You didn’t answer Kid’s question” he says.

You freeze. Of course he noticed.

Kid shifts beside you, arms crossed, eyes burning “Yeah, y/n. You staying or not?”

Law watches you, calculating, unreadable.

The festival noise fades. It’s just them. Just this. And you still don’t answer. Not because you don’t know, but because they all want different things.

Kid wants power. A challenge. Someone who doesn’t bend to him but still stands beside him. And you can give him that.

Law wants strategy. Precision. Someone he can trust, someone who understands things without needing to say them. And, angain, you can give him that.

Luffy just...

Luffy just wants you as you.

Not for your strength. Not for your Devil Fruit.

Just because you’re you.

And that’s the scariest thing of them all to you.

So instead of answering, you finally pull your hand back.

“I’m going to get a drink” you say simply.

Then you walk away, again. And this time none of them stop you.

Your boots move over the worn wooden planks of the street, but your mind lingers on the moment you pulled away. On the way they looked at you. You grip the sake bottle you swiped from a distracted vendor, your fingers pressing just a little too tightly around it. You shouldn’t care and yet... Footsteps. You don’t turn. You don’t have to. “I thought I told you I was getting a drink” you murmur. A low chuckle. Rough, amused. “Didn’t say I wasn’t getting one too.” Kid. Of course. You glance over your shoulder. He’s close.

Crimson eyes gleaming, coat still torn from battle, his usual sneer replaced with something slower, something that lingers. He’s looking at you like you’re his favorite fight.

You sigh, raising the bottle to your lips “What, afraid I’ll disappear?”

Kid’s smirk sharpens “I don’t get afraid.”

You swallow, letting the warmth of the sake burn down your throat “Could’ve fooled me.”

His grin widens “Tch. You wish.”

You should tell him to leave but you don’t. Because despite the way Kid is all sharp edges, all arrogance, all chaos, he’s also the one who followed. The one who didn’t let you slip into the night alone.

“Where the hell do you think you’re running off to, anyway?” he asks.

You tilt your head, watching him “Who says I’m running?”

Kid scoffs “Please. You didn’t just walk away. You walked the hell out.”

You hum, taking another slow sip “And yet, here you are.”

His smirk doesn’t fade “Damn right.”

“You’re different from them” he mutters.

You raise a brow “Them?”

His eyes flick back to where Law and Luffy were.

“They don’t get you like I do.” His voice drops just slightly, lower, rougher “You don’t play nice. You don’t follow. And you sure as hell don’t belong on a crew that treats life like a damn adventure story.”

You exhale, tapping the bottle against your thigh “That why you’re here?”

Kid takes another step closer, his voice a challenge and a promise all at once.

“I’m here ‘cause you don’t belong to anyone, y/n...”

His grin turns sharp.

“...but you could stand beside me. And you know that.”

A challenge. A temptation. And a mistake.

Because before you can answer, another voice cuts in.

“You don’t decide that for them.”

Kid turns, scowling, just as Law steps into the light.

You exhale through your nose “Figures you’d show up next. You all won't give up until I make a choice, will you?”

Law doesn’t deny it “Because you keep walking away” His voice is level “But you didn’t leave.”

Kid scoffs “Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

But Law ignores him. He steps closer, close enough that the air between you shifts. His voice is quieter now, meant only for you.

“If you were really leaving, you would’ve been gone by now.”

You grip the bottle tighter “And what if I just wanted a damn drink in peace?”

“Then you wouldn’t have let him follow.”

Your pulse stumbles. Kid’s jaw clenches, but before he can snap back, a familiar warmth crashes into you.

Luffy.

Arms wrapping around you like it’s the most natural thing in the world, his laugh bright, unbothered by the tension thick enough to cut with a blade.

“There you are!” He pulls back just enough to grin up at you “I knew you weren’t really leaving yet!”

You blink “What makes you so sure?”

Luffy tilts his head, confused by the question itself “Because you didn’t say goodbye.”

The simplicity of it hits harder than it should, because he’s right. You didn’t.

Law’s eyes darken, but he doesn’t look away from you “You’re still deciding.”

Kid’s jaw ticks “Tch. Just say it already.”

Luffy just waits, still smiling. Because he already knows.

And suddenly, you realize that so do you.

You inhale. Exhale. And then you turn.

Not to Kid.

Not to Law.

But to Luffy.

His eyes widen slightly, his fingers twitching against your sleeve “Eh?”

Your lips curl into a smirk “Took you long enough to find me, though”

Then he jumps with joy, hugs you tightly and kiss you on the cheek, which shocks you.

Luffy’s arms still wrapping tight around you like he never wants to let go.

Kid curses loudly, wheeling around to storm off, shoving a stunned passerby out of his way “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Law sighs heavily, running a hand down his face “Honestly.” But there’s no real bitterness in his voice, just understanding. Because they both saw it before you did.

You were never meant to follow. Never meant to stand beside them.

You were meant to run wild and free, with the only captain who never wanted to tame you in the first place.

Luffy pulls back, beaming, his hands still tight around you “So that means you’re coming with me, right?”

“As if you’d let me go.”

He grins.

“Never.”

[kesarijournal]

The Treaties of Lahore (1846 & 1849): A Comparative Legal Analysis of Territorial and Proprietary Rights

## AbstractThe Treaties of Lahore in 1846 and 1849 were seminal events that shaped the political and territorial landscape of the Punjab region. This paper aims to provide a comparative legal analysis of these treaties, examining their implications for territorial and proprietary rights. It also scrutinizes their compliance with the 1763 Royal Proclamation issued by King George III.##…

[quarkfancam]

some trek oc posting!! mostly dr. t'sik... also featuring ensign morris (human) & lt. nul (ferengi). Some elaboration on her under the cut....

Ok so the first thing you need to know about T'Sik is her head gets wider every time i draw her

The second thing you need to know about her is she is having the least severe vulcan identity crisis. My main idea for her character was someone who, while being perfectly able to fit into their society's ideals of what they should be, just cannot feel comfortable in it. She's always felt more at ease interacting with aliens or Vulcans who didn't go through with the Kolinahr, in spite of her being successful in that aspect. She's great at medicinal science. She's also pretty good at being a wife (so her parents say)! But once she's expected to 'finish' her duty as a woman in Vulcan society and become a mother, she kind of just runs off and joins Starfleet.

In that sense, she connects with a freshly-graduated (she assumes) human (she assumes) ensign, who was also a rebel in the sense he was more Curzon than Ezri Dax, a chaotic rogue with ambiguous feelings towards the society he was raised in. They serve together on their first ship for a while before T'Sik is promoted and transferred from ship to ship. She feels appreciated for a while, but she eventually has to admit that the feeling fades.

The people she's always gotten along with more simply aren't the people she really wants praise from. She longs for the people she grew up alongside, the people she was raised by.

It doesn't matter, so she ignores the feeling. She keeps being distracted at work. She gets sloppier. The people grow more distant in her mind. Years pass. Decades pass. She's not exceptional anymore, she's just decent.

She gets transferred to the ship where everyone who's just decent goes: the USS Hawking, patrolling the middle of nowhere.

The people are strange, but familiar. Too familiar — a friendly face greets her, and suddenly she's freshly 40 again. Ensign Morris treats her just the same as back then. It's strange. She doesn't quite know what to do with herself. More time passes.

Her new captain, a cardassian man named Karal, brings new people aboard, one of which is a young ferengi woman named Nul. Unfortunately for T'Sik, she's seen the story of a young woman running away from home into the arms of Starfleet before.

...Which starts us off with the (imaginary) S1, where T'Sik has to navigate a new Captain and a new apprentice who reminds her a bit too much of herself (she will be a bit cold to her at first). And maybe also properly re-befriend her former weird mysterious rebel colleague who never got promoted too.

last doodle was just me having fun but imagine an episode where they're the only ones awake on the ship while everyone's asleep or something and they're forced to develop..... etc

as for morris & t'sik they're kinda weird sarcastic sorta-friends they hook up at one point and it sucks really bad. t'sik's ex husband felt a disturbance in the force (wrong franchise) the day it happened and stuff. Idk i haven't thought about him at All. that's like a s4 episode to me

& also i Forgot to adjust uniforms for time period in the first doodle but my in canon explanation for the voyager era ones (this whole thing would be a bit after the dominion war) is that the ship just never got replicator patterns for the new uniforms. Yup

anyways if you read this whole thing ur a real one & Thank you........ turns into a cloud and floats away......

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

That moment when your bestie gives you Thongvor Silver-Blood/Last Dragonborn as a crackship and you roll with it to surprising results

ao3 | masterlist

So @elder-dragon-reposes gave me this prompt. She wanted to see what I could do with Leara Rose-blade and one of the Silver-Blood brothers. I chose Thongvor. So, to start Leara off with Thongvor, I read his UESP page. And I learned some things. You can get Thongvor to talk about Talos, and if you're an elf, like Leara, he says:

"He founded the Empire, and now they've turned their back on him. To appease your kind, Elf. Do your people rule Skyrim, or do the Nords?"

Leara would cooly reply,

"You may find that some of my kind stand with Skyrim. I'm here on behalf of Ulfric Stormcloak."

(Floor him, Lea, c'mon)

He may also say:

"Your kind started the Great War. Nearly destroyed the Imperial City. Then the Emperor took the coward's way out and surrendered. Now you people dictate everything we do. Don't want us acknowledging a "mere human" like Talos as the god he is."

At which point Leara, Thalmor agent though she was at the time, would say,

"Your gross generalization of all elves under one banner is fascinating. Tell me, do all Nords see eye-to-eye with you? Because I thought you and Jarl Igmund had a few fundamental differences of your own."

Leara just dismantles him. Deconstructs his worldview until she dominates his perception. That's my girl.

This conversation happens:

Thongvor: "Reburrus, I need you to draft a letter to Ulfric requesting more men." Yngvar: "Ha! About time we got some more muscle in this city." Reburrus: "Thongvor, do you really think that's wise? I mean, King Ulfric is such a busy man, and there are so many areas of Skyrim to protect." Thongvor: "Whose side are you on, Reburrus? I'm not worried about Skyrim, I'm worried about the Reach. Specifically, the part of the Reach we're standing on." Reburrus: "Yes, Thongvor. I'll draft the letter immediately."

And after Reburrus sends the letter, Ulfric's natural inclination is to send his trusty Rose-blade.

"I know you're inclined toward the negotiator's table, but with the situation in the Reach, I need someone I can trust on top of things."

And Leara smiles at Ulfric.

"Of course."

And she's off to Markarth.

Does Ulfric know that his old friend Thongvor is about to simp for the woman Ulfric loves? No. If he did, he'd have sent Galmar or literally anyone else.

So then I asked my friend: What do you want to bet that this is the conversation Leara walks in on when arriving at Understone Keep?

Thongvor: "I want soldiers sent to deal with these dragons. Every able-bodied man and woman who can carry a bow." Reburrus: "We can't do that. Every soldier we send to hunt dragons is one more man that can't defend the Reach." Thongvor: "Killing dragons isn't defending the Reach?" Reburrus: "Our men know how to kill Forsworn and Legionnaires, not dragons."

And she clears her throat, light and delicate, and says,

"I can handle the dragons for you."

And Thongvor is going to put his foot in his mouth [see above where Leara dismantles him and informs him Ulfric sent her], and Thongvor just has to trust this half-elf, apparently from "King Ulfric" (she probably has a letter with a seal or something) to go handle the immediate dragon problem. And she does, and it's amazing.

Right now Thongvor is catching feelings for Ulfric's liaison and he has no idea what to do. She's not what he's perpetrated elves to be. And it's got him on the wrong foot.

Thongovr does need help in Markarth and Leara is surprisingly effective. She's diplomatic and soft-spoken and has an uncanny ability to introduce logic into situations and to soothe hot tempers. Thongvor can see why Ulfric sent her of all people. And after a while, he doesn't particularly want to send her back. Thongvor isn't an idiot: He knows there are many people in Markarth who still sympathize with or are on the side of the Empire or the Forsworn. He can't name names, but he knows they're there and they are a threat to his family's hold on the city. But Leara Stormcrown is keeping everything together. The dragons aren't so much of a threat now and there hasn't been a Forsworn attack or riot in several weeks. Thongvor is living high on Leara's success.

And then Ulfric writes, requesting Leara return to Windhelm at Thongvor's earliest convenience, because he needs his negotiator. back. Unfortunately for Ulfric, Thongvor doesn't find this convenient at all. He almost anticipates the city falling into anarchy as soon as Leara leaves and he can't have that. Markarth needs her. He needs her–

So Thongvor starts inventing excuses to keep her in the city. Leara knows Ulfric needs her to help him handle the Imperial deligations from Solitude, but Thongvor hasn't signed off on her mission to Markarth. She's getting antsy to leave, but she can't abandon her orders.

And this leads into the Forsworn Conspiracy/No One Escapes Cidhna Mine. There are problems from the Forsworn. When Leara starts looking into it, Thongvor doesn't want her to, but she does anyway and Thonar, what do you mean you arrested her?

And then Leara is in Cidhna Mine and Thongvor, Mr Foot-In-His-Mouth, is stalling on getting her out and his concern that Ulfric is going to find out.

(Firm belief that Thonar doesn't like Leara at all, by the way. Thinks his brother is a fool.)

And then . . . the Forsworn break out of the mines, and Leara is standing in his quarters. It's 3am. She's in rags. She's never looked more mesmerizing. Why is it so cold all of a sudden?

"I stopped them from killing your brother – barely. I did that for you, by the way. You're welcome, Jarl Thongvor. You're welcome, because Madanach is free, and he's gone to spread the truth to the Reachfolk."

Oh. She's . . . cross.

Her finger, directed at his throat, is a jagged spear of ice as it presses into his skin. There's a blizzard in her eyes and frost on her skin. That's what they meant when they called her Dragon of the North.

"Since coming to Markarth, I have followed your every direction. I have aided the people and dealt with your problems for you. But no longer. When your idea of aiding the people is the eradication and abuse of half the populace, then you are no longer worth my attention. People say Ulfric oppresses the Dunmer, but at least they have roofs over their heads, food in their stomachs, fires for warmth, and city walls for protection – the Reachfolk have nothing. You would take everything from a people whose only crime is living in the land you desire for your own! When I return to Windhelm–"

And then Thongvor snaps. He grabs Leara by the shoulders.

"I did it for you! I tried to protect you from the Forsworn! I would drive them into the depths of Oblivion so you never suffer at their hands again, like you have tonight!"

Leara's stare is a long winter.

"You did it for yourself."

And then her skin – he can almost feel the softness of her thin shoulders through the prison rags – is so cold it burns.

"The only one who hurt me tonight is you. I thought you were better than that. Really, I did."

And then Leara walks away. More painful than watching her go is knowing that she would never look on him again. That all her regard, so carefully attained in recent months, is shattered and gone. And Thongvor cries.

LATER IN WINDHELM:

Ulfric is just lounging on his throne, waiting for Thongvor to send Leara back, when the doors just blow up and she's there and she's brought the winter wind in her wake, but she's got a stiff lip and an iron spine. Ulfric is on his feet in moments because this isn't laughing Leara, this is Leara struggling, and he meets her across the room in moments.

She almost flinches back when he reaches for her.

His hand falls.

"Leara . . ."

Her eyes are distant, off to the side, and then she looks at him, and maybe there's a thaw but it comes with a swell of rain and barely restrained tears.

"I failed in the Reach, Jarl Ulfric."

Ulfric doubts that. Leara doesn't fail. But he hesitates to ask what she means because there's something haunted in her eyes. He reaches for her hand and when she takes it, slowly, he says,

"Tell me."

And she does, and Ulfric hears thunder.

Clear across the province, Thongvor shivers.

And that's it. That's the post. Thank you for coming to my TES talk

[helis97]

Dude megatronus Prime forever starving and Mad that Is hell.

Well he was Chained for a very Long Time and will he Be ever free If yes will He Be good now or Bad cause you know forever starving and wants revenge or Something.

Have a nice day and stuff bye.

He does get to be free and that DOES make him everyone else problem! Mainly because he is a powerhouse (a sadistic one) and has some dominion over dark-enegon! (Primus made him that way to fight Unicron).

At some point during the Autobot/Decepticon war, Quintessons’ society implodes to a point where there is no longer a society, but a bunch of individuals that use their immense knowledge and resources to take control of planets or entire solar systems. Tytanus Quintus, with his small army of genetically modified transformers, takes the dead and now abandoned planet of Cybertron (Orobhos follows him shortly after).

Quinntessa takes her fleet of warships and the Fallen Prime (aka Megatronus) and starts a nomad empire by capturing and enslaving any sentient creature that finds itself floating in space. That DOES INCULE any unfortunate cybertronian scatered in the cosmos after the death of their home planet. Megatronus has happily gone along with Quinntessa’ s plan because he gets to rule/torment anyone that gets caught.

Megatron gets to taste said torments when he is caught while trying to escort a fleet of refugees back to Cybertron (after the events of the movie). As stated before, Megatronus has dominion over dark-energon and Megatron happens to have his entire f@king being infused with that!

previous post about this

[walkingstackofbooks]

IPS/BIL AU where Tain dies before he can send the message. Garak and Worf never go to the gamma quadrant. Julian and Martok don't get rescued.

Back on DS9 the changeling is stopped pretty much just as it was in canon, with Kira and Dax managing to stop the Yukon from reaching the sun, just as it explodes. (Maybe since Garak is still on the station, he notifies Sisko that Bashir has taken the Yukon out?) This time, however, no-one knows it was a changeling, and among all the shock and grief, there's tense speculation about what the hell Julian was doing out there in a runabout with a bomb.

The changeling had planned to never be identified, believing it would sow more confusion and fear in the Federation if they believe one of their own had been secretly allied with the Dominion. And so the changeling had left behind a trail of "Julian" interacting with highly questionable locked-down message-boards such as "Would enhanced individuals be better off under the Dominion?", which would never have been tracked back to him apart from under such scrutiny he's now post-humously receiving. (The changeling knew about Julian's enhancements - to become something is to understand that thing, after all.)

Of course, it is considered whether Julian may have been impersonated by a changeling, but once the link to his enhancements has been revealed - and his parents can't hide it, they confess, and are sentenced to time in a penal colony - it seems very much decided that Doctor Bashir had become an augment extremist, biding his time on DS9 until he could play out his part in the Dominion plot. There's varying levels of acceptance of this among Julian's friends - even if it seems that they have to admit it, it's still almost impossible to believe that Julian could have tried to do that. But it doesn't really matter what they think - life has to go on, and the war's continuing whether they like it or not, and little by little they move on with their now-Julian-less lives.

Time passes. they get a new CMO. The Cardassians re-occupy the station, and Sisko leads the campaign to get it back. Worf and Jadzia get married. Garak gets a message.

A.L.I.V.E. J.S.B.

And no-one knows what to think. JSB can't be... can it? But how...

Garak argues that Doctor Bashir's death is so well-known that no-one would use his name as the basis for some sort of trap. Miles agrees. Everyone else wants to agree. (For a certain definition of 'want'. Julian being alive, not a traitor... that also means he's been doing somewhere in the past ten months, and it's difficult to think about what sort of awful place that might have been.)

Garak and Worf are sent out to chase this signal - in theory, it's recon, but naturally it quickly devolves. They get captured themsleves, finding Camp 371 and Julian, looking ten months worse for wear. Garak learns about Tain's death, and the subspace transmitter he'd began working on and that they'd only just been able to finish, having managed to recruit a recently-abducted Starfleet engineer. An engineer who's currently in solitary, leaving them with a plan to escape now there's a runabout in orbit, but no way to effect it. Unless there's something Garak can do...

And Worf, of course, meets Martok, and is impressed by the Klingon's tale of daily fights for nearly three years. "Almost every day," Martok corrects him. "There have been times when I've woken up with a sore head to find that the doctor has taken my place."

Worf looks to Julian, nodding. "So you are the man we remember," he says. "Your enhancements may have helped you fight, but it was an honourable thing to volunteer."

"My... my enhancements?" asks Julian faintly. "What- what do you mean?"

"Commander, is now really the time—" Garak tries to interrupt but Julian speaks over him.

"No, Garak, I want to know— I-I need to know. What do you mean, Worf?"

And Worf, in his short, succinct way tells Julian how they had believed he had died, and what they had discovered thereafter, and while they know now that he is not an augment extremist, his parents' confession made it clear that he is an augment.

Julian doesn't say very much after that, apart from what is needed to help with the rescue - he calms Garak down, he volunteers to try and figure out what needs doing in the crawl space ("I've learnt at least a few things from tinkering with it over those seven months...") - but otherwise, he's withdrawn and spacey. Garak perserveres - he must get Julian back to DS9, has to hope there's still time to rekindle that light in his doctor's eyes - and manages to get them out, and even locking onto the engineer's life sign in solitary. They make it to the runabout, and escape.

It's a very different sort of homecoming. This time, rather than having only a few hours to get used to the idea that Julian had been missing for a month, they've been mourning him for almost a year, angry and confused and left with so many questions. And they've had almost a week of wondering what's become of Worf and Garak, and to tie themselves in circles wondering if J.S.B really could be Julian Subatoi Bashir.

Garak gets them all beamed directly to sickbay, and it's obvious that Julian's overwhelmed enough by that without having hordes of emotional friends come to greet him. So they're allowed in, one at a time. Miles petitions to be first, and wraps Julian up in what would have been the firmest of hugs - apart from Julian's so gaunt, so... so fragile, that Miles finds he dares not squeeze too hard. Words gush out - ones that he'd never have thought he'd admit out loud - about how much he missed Julian and how glad he is none of what they said was true, and it takes him some time to realise that he's been blabbering on and Julian's not been saying a word.

Julian has been clinging onto him tightly, though, and that... that's got to be enough, for now.